Several months ago, I wrote about suddenly finding myself on the back benches of the national effort, as a shielding acute NHS worker. The response was heartening, both from other […]
Columnists
Specialist college training: a potential source of research wastage
“Much poor research arises because researchers feel compelled for career reasons to carry out research that they are ill equipped to perform” — Douglas Altman 1994 The research literature has […]
Richard Smith: The well known story of how Easter Islanders destroyed their island is probably wrong
In 2011, I posted an article in The BMJ “Will we follow Easter Islanders into extinction?” It was a deeply pessimistic piece, and now I need to correct it with […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Choosing treatments for covid-19
Since SARS-CoV-2 started causing covid-19 many different treatments have been studied, with varying degrees of success, mostly none. An incomplete list of pharmacological interventions that have been registered in clinical […]
Martin McKee: The UK’s response to covid-19 does not inspire confidence in its ability to protect health as we drift into a No Deal Brexit
Just like every other year, midnight on the 31st December 2020 will be a time of mixed emotions. Some will look back fondly on happy times, such as weddings, graduations, […]
Chris Ham: Engaging people and communities will help avoid a resurgence of covid-19
The decision to lockdown Leicester because of a resurgence of covid-19 in the community marks a significant moment in the evolution of the pandemic in England. It demonstrates a shift […]
Taking a covid-19 test at home: the fragile base on which track-and-trace is built
Like millions of others every day I have “done my bit” by entering into an app my symptoms and whether I’ve had a test for covid-19, and day after day […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Ivermectin
The Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 2015 was awarded for two pharmacological discoveries: Tu Youyou’s discovery of the efficacy in malaria of qinghao, Artemisia annua, the source of […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Retractions, withdrawals, and archives
Last week I drew a distinction between publications that had been retracted after publication and those that had been withdrawn. Although the two words literally mean “drawn back” one should […]
Richard Smith: Will carbon consumption, cost, and severe limitations finish paper journals?
The demise of most medical journals and the transformation of the remaining rump has been predicted for years, not least in my book The Trouble With Medical Journals, which I […]